Lyr ADD: I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan)

Subject: I see my life come shining??
From:
Date: 24 May 99 - 02:01 AM

Well, I believe I first heard this song on an episode of Magnum PI years ago. In the episode in question Magnum is lingering between life and death following a shooting and he leaves his body and visits all the people close to him. At one point his "spirit" is in the helicopter with his friend and this song is used as the background for the scene-I think it's the same song anyway.

If anyone could help me out with this I would really be very thankful.

Thanks!

BGC

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 24 May 99 - 02:02 AM

Bob Dylan's classic "I Shall Be Released". Shouldn't be hard to find.

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: BGC
Date: 24 May 99 - 02:04 AM

Thanks very much Rick! At last I know.

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 24 May 99 - 02:48 AM

BGC,

Welcome to the Mudcat. Hang around and check out some other threads. You might find you like it here.

Rick was a bit helpful, but he's still new to the site (and besides, he's Canadian). Otherwise he would have told you to look in the Digitrad Database (the DT). If you go to the upper-right-hand corner of this page, you'll see the search-engine. Type in [I see my life come] in the little slot and press "Search" and you'll find the lyrics. The brackets [ ] tell the engine to look for that specific phrase.

We did get the title wrong, it isn't Any Day Now (as seen in the DT), it is I Shall Be Released. If you are a Bob Dylan fan, BGC, there is a web site of Bob Dylan lyrics.

Enjoy the music.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 24 May 99 - 11:45 AM

G'day,
Isn't it light not life in Dylan's song? You'll need to know if you're doing a search.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 24 May 99 - 12:28 PM

ACtually, if good spelling were a requisite for using DigiTrad, its utility would be sadly diminished. You could always search for [come shinin*]---the asterisk takes care of both shining and shinin'

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 24 May 99 - 12:47 PM

Darn it Roger, I ain't that new! I just didn't want to make it too easy for him. That's my story and I'm stickin to it!

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 24 May 99 - 02:53 PM

Alan,

Good question. The Bob Dylan lyric site and the DT says it is light not life. Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, the proper search is [I see my light come].

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: tomtom
Date: 24 May 99 - 03:04 PM

I think Bob stole the line--more or less--from some old religious tunes. For instance, Bascom Lamar Lundsford's Dry Bones: "I saw the light from heaven shining all around." (Or something like that.)

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: BGC
Date: 24 May 99 - 03:39 PM

My thanks to everyone who responded to my enquiry. It's good to know the word is "light" rather than "life" as I had mistakenly believed.

I will indeed check out some other threads and make use of the DT.

Hope I may soon return the favour(s).

BGC

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 25 May 99 - 05:22 AM

What!!!?? Bob Dylan steal a line????? Well I never!!!!

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Jaxon
Date: 25 May 99 - 08:13 AM

I'm shocked!!!Shocked!!! Bob Dylan is capable of stealing a tune (see Patriot Game turn into With God On Our Side) or an entire song (see Baby Let Me Follow You Down by Eric Von Schmidt) but he would never stoop so low as to steal a mere line.
Jack Murray

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 25 May 99 - 09:26 AM

Hey, Hey, leave Bob alone. He certainly is not the first nor will he be the last to "borrow" from other songs.

I must admit that I was shocked to find out that even Frank Zappa stole what I was sure was an original line. I was listening to Howlin' Wolf (at least I believe it was Howlin' Wolf, might have been Albert King) the other day when low and behold I hear "Great Googly Moogly". I was shattered.

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 25 May 99 - 09:29 AM

It is hard to see so many tongues planted firmly in cheeks when you are on the Internet. Boy, when real time video comes out we may all communicate better.

If you're gonna steal lines, steal from the best I say.

Big RiB

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Art Thieme
Date: 25 May 99 - 09:55 AM

Theft is a good old American tradion. Beides, it's not theft. It's the ORAL TRADITION. Joe Hill did it. Woody did it ALL THE TIME. Many of us (me for sure) have used "better" taditional tunes for a song than the "boring" tune we found it with. It was a way to set ourselves apart from another person's rendidion---and to make, in our opinion, a better song. Very little is EVER really original all the way. By using another traditional tune for an already traditional set of lyrics, we keep it a traditional song (and avoid royalties & copyrights).

Art

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: tomtom
Date: 25 May 99 - 11:06 AM

I was just trying to clarify the "life"-"light" confusion. Bob can steal anything he wants. Hell, he can rob a grocery store for all I care. You're right, Art. It's part of the oral tradition. But, I think Roger and Alan were just joking around. Somebody once said: "Good poets borrow; great poets steal." Amen, brother-cousin.

I'm stealin' back to that same-old used-to-be,

tomtom

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 May 99 - 12:06 PM

Aw if it seems good try it, but if it is good , steal it. Doesn't Oral Tradition make toothbrushes? No,no, ... That's Oral B. Oral Tradition makes Dental Dams!!!

catspaw

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 Jan 04 - 06:45 PM

Re: Roger in Baltimore 24 May 99 - 02:48 AM msg above..

I hope the DT get updated...

Robin

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jan 04 - 07:11 PM

I'm not sure "life" mightn't be better than "light", especially in some contexts.

I'm a firm believer in the principle that, if a mondegreen seems to improve a song, we should always feel free to incorporate it.

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 14 Jan 04 - 07:22 PM

They say every man needs protection?

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: GUEST,The Jester
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 05:58 AM

I've done time fore everything, cept begin on the street.
RZ

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: GUEST,T-boy
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 07:48 AM

I see my light come shining, from the west down to the east.

That's hardly a steal from 'I see the light shining all around' or whatever, is it.

And 'life' would make no sense at all.

I once heard it explained that, if you're a prisoner in a cell with a little window, then the sun moving round the sky from east to west means that you get a patch of light moving round your cell from west to east. Makes sense to me, and quite a poetic image.

Thanks, Bob.

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 10:38 AM

Bob Dylan site I've found is www.dylanchords.com. Has the lyrics and chords (and some tab) for just about every version of every song he ever performed, on albums or live.

Pete

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining??
From: Pied Piper
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 11:30 AM

Thats a great site Pete, here's
a fixed blue clicky

Subject: DTCORR: I Shall Be Released
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 12:33 PM

We don't have many pop songs in the Digital Tradition, but some Dylan songs are on the borderline of the "Folk Canon," so many of his songs have been included (more than I'd like to see, but that's a personal opinion). The Digital Tradition version of this song came out a bit sloppy. Here are the lyrics, as published.
-Joe Offer-

I Shall Be Released
(Bob Dylan)

They say ev'rything can be replaced,
Yet ev'ry distance is not near.
So I remember ev'ry face
Of ev'ry man who put me here.
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east.
Any day now, any day now,
I shall be released.

They say ev'ry man needs protection,
They say ev'ry man must fall.
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Some place so high above this wall.
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east.
Any day now, any day now,
I shall be released.

Standing next to me in this lonely crowd,
Is a man who swears he's not to blame.
All day long I hear him shout so loud,
Crying out that he was framed.
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east.
Any day now, any day now,
I shall be released.

Copyright 1967, 1970, by Dwarf Music


from Lyrics 1962-1985, Bob Dylan

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: PoppaGator
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 12:59 PM

The light coming from west to east:

I always figured that this symbolized "sundown," when the light is coming from the west, and suggested winding down to the end of one's time.

Guest T-Boy's theory about reflected light inside a cell is something I never thought of, and quite intriguing.

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: MickyMan
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 07:11 AM

Let's talk about great cover versions of this immortal Dylan classic. I nominate the Band's eerie rendition on Music From Big Pink with Richard Manual's affected but effective falsetto. Miss those guys terribly, doesn't everybody? Talk about taking the folk tradition in an imaginative new direction. They were the all time greatest. Agreed?

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: GUEST,T-boy
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 07:35 AM

Agreed !!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: Kevin Sheils
Date: 22 Jan 04 - 10:57 AM

Never recorded to the best of my knowledge, but some years back at a Fairport gig in the 100 club in London, Bob Davenport got up and did a stunning rendition with Fairport backing.

One of those on-offs I guess

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: Margret RoadKnight
Date: 23 Jan 04 - 02:20 AM

Miriam Makeba's and PP&M's versions spring to mimd.......

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Jan 04 - 04:16 PM

In the morning the light's coming from the East, so it shines on the West wall in the evening it's coming from the West, so it shnes on the East wall.

True enough, "Life" wouldn't make literal sense, but figuratively it'd make perfect sense, meaning that it's as transient as a beam of light. (And I'm not suggesting that's what Dylan wrote.)

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: cobber
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 03:19 AM

Nina Simone did it on the "To Love Somebody" album. It's a great version

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: GUEST,Guest, B.T.
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 06:42 AM

Isn't Richard Manuel given joint composer credits?

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: GUEST,guest mick
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 07:17 AM

I think you're right BT ,didn't he write the music?
I always think of the song as a version of or very closely linked to All My Trials Will Soon Be Over . Anyone agree ?

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: GUEST,Guest, B.T.
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 11:16 AM

Just checked my vinyl copy of Last Waltz, which I should have done beforehand: credited to 'Dylan' only. I'm sure though that I've seen RM credited elsewhere: it's not the sort of thing that I'd imagine. Incidentally, I recently got a DVD copy of Last Waltz, which includes a lot of extra stuff: mostly interviews with Robbie and Martin S. Learned, for example, that the opening song in Last Waltz, was in fact the final one performed on the night: some other fascinating insights, adding much to the appreciation of the film.

Re All My Trails: I'll leave that one to the musicians among us.

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 01:06 PM

Richard Manuel had nothing to do with writing "I Shall Be Released."

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: GUEST,guest mick
Date: 25 Jan 04 - 05:58 AM

You seem very sure of yourself previous guest. Your name by any chance wouldn't be ..em ...ahem....cough cough

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: GUEST,Guest, B.T.
Date: 25 Jan 04 - 10:30 AM

My mistake: I was getting it mixed up with "Tears of Rage", which is credited jointly to "Dylan/Manuel" on the Basement Tapes record. (Sorry Bob!).

Subject: RE: I see my life come shining/I Shall Be Released
From: GUEST,The Jester
Date: 26 Jan 04 - 10:03 AM

Why must I always be the thief?